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Thursday, 12 November 2009

Frugal Christmas Entertainment

I don't know about you but when I was younger I always felt a little out of my friends conversations around Christmas time. It seemed to me that my friends parents spent hundreds of pounds more on my friends Christmas entertainment than my parents did on mine, they went to Pantos, to Lapland and other things that must of cost a fortune.

I often felt that my friends were being short changed however, because even though they had the most desirable places to go to I was always given what I wanted or needed I was given my parents time. I will have to ask my Mum, because looking back everything is slightly rose tinted and I know that it wasn't all Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows, but it certainly felt that way!

We did a lot of things over the Christmas period that cost next to nothing and to me is part of a frugal Christmas. So if you are time rich and money poor, I hope some of my ideas and traditions for Frugal Christmas Entertainment may become yours!

When I was little we use to go for Christmas Drives, hunting down the Rotary Club Santa. It was always printed in the paper, which area he would be in on which night, but my Sister and I didn't know that. As far as we knew we really were hunting for Santa. Top Ender has done this over the last few years and she adores looking for him, catching a glimpse and having to try to find him again. It is a good way to spend some time together, as long as you don't mind spending some petrol money or as long as you can all walk fast!

Starting in the first week of December we go on Christmas light hunts. We know of three or four areas, where the decorations outside the homes in the area are fantastic and so we love to drive around them and hunt for new ones!

Then of course there is our annual trip to see the Christmas Lights in London. We are lucky that we now have a Picasso with a giant sun roof, so that we can just look up and see the beautiful displays. This also works for us in our local town, as I think every town puts up some form of Holiday lighting these days!

For the last three years, Top Ender and I have gone to see the lights being turned on the Christmas tree in our local town square. It is really lovely and we enjoy the countdown before the lights are turned on. Our town council has made an effort to make it more enjoyable, with a small funfair and a light parade first.

Something we love to do is to turn the main lights off in our living room once our decorations are up, and either to just have the Christmas lights on or to light a few candles. Top Ender, Daddy and I have snuggled on the sofa just watching the twinkling lights for ages, Baby Boy tended to fall asleep, but then he was only seven months old!

Watching films is something that Top Ender and I do every week, we have a huge range to chose from and often watch one that I have recorded in the week on one of the kids TV Channels. Doing this with popcorn or some Christmas snacks (and with the lights off and just the Christmas lights on!) will just add the Christmas excitement!

One of my best memories was when Daddy and I were wrapping Christmas gifts listening to Christmas radio on the Internet and we heard a unique song that neither of us had heard before. I recommend that you don't listen to this if there are children around...

Lets just say that Daddy and I enjoyed that Christmas song and the wrapping of the gifts went a lot quicker that year...

Learning Christmas Carols as a family is great. Top Ender got the giggles a few years back when ever we sang "In the Bleak Mid-Winter". It took us ages to find out that she thought the line "Snow had fallen snow on snow" was the funniest thing she had heard! Even now when we sing it she will give us a knowing look at that line!

Christmas stories are plentiful and they might be classics ("Twas the Night before Christmas" anyone?) or new but they always bring a smile to someones face... especially if you are like Daddy and me and still think that Randy the Reindeer is a life choice rather than a name!

And of course you can always use the Great Robinson's website as reviewed by Top Ender here and put on a Panto!